


Homestuck Shipping World Cup Fills 2014

by ParadoxProphet



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Human, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Gender or Sex Swap, Homestuck Shipping World Cup 2014, Humanstuck, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:30:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1661459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadoxProphet/pseuds/ParadoxProphet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of Bonus Round entries for the Shipping World Cup</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Interesting Turn of Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when Roxy wandered off, found the ectomachine, and messed around with it, accidentally turning her into a guy (that Dirk found really hot nonetheless)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for body dysphoria.

"...Welp. I have a dick now."

Those were the last things Dirk ever expected to come out of Roxy's mouth. When he accepted the voice call from her he didn't think he would hear her say something like that. Nor did he expect her voice to be deeper. What was up with that anyway?

"Um, what exactly do you mean?" he asked. He knew that Roxy sometimes said strange things, whether drunk or sober, but he had to make absolutely sure he heard correctly.

"I mean exactly what I said, Dirk! I now have a penis!" Well shit.

"Wait, back up, how exactly did this even happen?" he asked.

"That's the thing, I'm not so sure myself!" Roxy said. "I found some kind of freaky machine, and I miiiight have messed around with it, just a little bit. The next thing I know, my boobs are gone! and I have this meat sword flopping around!"

"So you're telling me you just so happened to find a machine that turned you into a dude, and you just happened to not know what you did to cause it?" Dirk said.

"Dirk, believe me, if I knew how to change back I would!" Roxy exclaimed, clearly distressed. "I don't know how you and Jake can deal with having this thing in your pants, but it doesn't feel right and I'd like to change back as soon as possible!"

"Woah, Roxy, calm down, it's gonna be ok." Dirk said, trying to comfort his friend. "I was just trying to make sure is all."

"I can prove it to you, you know!" Roxy said, unconvinced that he believed her. In mere moments, the voice call changed on Roxy's end to show a video feed. Sure enough, Roxy was telling the truth. Her shoulders were more broad, her build was more masculine, and her chest (which had no shirt on, probably to prove the point further) was completely lacking of breasts. And Dirk wasn't about to lie, he actually found it hot. He certainly cared for Roxy, but this new appearance was causing a stirring in his loins that he tried to control. Thank goodness his own video feed wasn't playing, who knows what would happen if Roxy saw that he was getting a boner from all this? "Please Dirk, you have to help me! I miss my boobies!" she said.

Dirk snapped out of his thoughts, remembering that Roxy needed his help. "Um, right. Where is this machine you were messing with?" he asked.

Roxy seemed to ponder for a minute, messing with her hair in the process. Dirk couldn't help but find that attractive, no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise. "Welllll, I was in this lab place, you know just exploring this place and everything, when suddenly I find this bigggg machine. It's hella old too, like back to Jane and Jake's time old, yet it still seems to function for some reason? Idk. So I'm trying to figure out what it does, and it doesn't look like it's doing anything, but I guess it did something because otherwise I wouldn't have a dick right now." she said, trying to recollect her thoughts.

"Well maybe if you pressed the buttons again, you'll change back to your female self?" Dirk proposed.

Roxy smiled, unable to believe that she hadn't thought about that earlier. "Oh yeah! Duh! Thanks Dirk!" she said, overjoyed. "I'm gonna go try that out right now!"

"Wait, before you go, I have to ask you something." Dirk said.

Roxy paused, looking at him confused. "What's the matter, Dirk?" she asked.

Dirk sat there for a minute, uncertain how to go about this. "Before you go, do you think you could..." he began, nervous to even be asking the question. "Let me have pictures of this version of you?"

Roxy stood confused for a moment before realization hit her, a smirk on her face. "Sure, guve me a sec and I'll send you the hot pics." she teased. The call ended there, and a few minutes later Dirk was receiving a folder titled "Hot nudes 4 Dirk". Of course she would call it that. And it certainly didn't disappoint him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know how to write Dirk hahaha


	2. Quadrant Assumptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember how all their friends thought they were flushed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for possible dubcon and alcohol references.
> 
> There is not enough black Rosemary in this world, let's fix that.

Every day it was the same.

Kanaya hated the situation she was in. No matter how many times she tried to make it obvious, the others always assumed her and Rose were in a flushed relationship. Kanaya couldn't blame them though, they never saw what was going on behind closed doors. All they knew was that Kanaya would go off to see Rose for long periods of time. Of course, she didn't expect Dave to know what was going on, the quadrants were so much different than his human concept of romance. Karkat was too caught up in his own problems to really notice, and Terezi had a shaky caliginous relationship to deal with herself. Even still, she wished they picked up the hints she made.

Though to be honest Kanaya was probably flushed for Rose once, but that was a long time ago. She was blinded by her feelings back then, and didn't see Rose for who she really was. After she arrived on the meteor, Kanaya thought that she could get to know Rose better. After all, now she could speak to her in person. And for a time, things were good between them. They weren't exactly in any relationship, but things were good between them.

That is, until the drinking started. And with the drinking came a number of lies and broken promises. Rose wasn't herself anymore. She was merely a shell of who she once was. Kanaya tried to help her at first, trying to think of ways to ease Rose off of the alcohol and tone down the addiction. For a while, she served as a moirail of sorts, but that didn't last long. Nothing was working with her and she refused to listen. And then Rose attempted to auspistice between Gamzee and Terezi, something that failed miserably since she didn't even seem serious about it all the time. Rose just continued to spiral farther and farther. Kanaya was surprised that she had any brain cells left. It came to a point where she hated it.

She hated Rose. She hated the drinking. She hated how a once clever and snarky girl had become so inept and dependent. She hated how she had to stay close to her almost constantly. But most of all, she hated how much her feelings for her wouldn't let her leave.

Rose of course couldn't see it through the alcohol in her system. To her, Kanaya was still her best friend, her girlfriend even. Though technically the last statement wasn't entirely false, it certainly wasn't true in the way Rose thought it was.

Kanaya had enough. Which is how she was currently here, in Can Town with a drunken Rose and forcibly kissing her with the blackest intentions. It wasn't anything passionate in the slightest. No, Kanaya thought that even in her drunken state Rose should be able to recognize a hate snog. And besides, Rose did forcibly kiss her once before while drunk, so Kanaya was merely returning the gesture. When it had ended, Kanaya felt amazing. She never had a proper kismesis before, so the feeling of making out like this was exciting. Surely now Rose would understand what was going on here, right?

Clearly Kanaya put too much faith in her.

Rose just sat there for a second, staring out into space, before bursting out into laughter. Stupid, drunken laughter that Kanaya despised. "Holly shit Kanana, you never trolled me you were a damn grood kisser." she said, before laughing again. Angered, Kanaya left the room, leaving Rose to sit there and laugh her ass off. She should have felt outraged that Rose didn't understand. And yet somehow, it only caused the black feelings to grow stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And once again, I write about a falling apart relationship involving a drunk Rose.


	3. Touchdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember that time Sollux went to the airport to meet his long distance girlfriend for the first time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this includes my human!trolls headcanons. For those that are wondering, Sollux is British and Aradia is Native American.

The plane would be landing any moment now. Sollux took a quick look at his watch. 11:54 am. In just a few moments his girlfriend would walk through the gates and greet him with a warm smile. It would be an understatement to say that he was nervous. Sure they had managed to make a long distance relationship work, but meeting in person was completely different. He tried to keep himself calm, but that was easier said than done.

Not that he wasn't excited to see her of course, not every long distance couple had the chance to fly across the ocean to meet each other. The fact that she could get the ticket to fly all the way to the U.K. was impressive, considering that her family wasn't exactly the richest. And she was able to stay here for a whole week! At his place no less! It just seemed too good to be true. Yet here he was, waiting at the London City Airport for her plane to touch down.

"Now arriving: Flight 217 from Billings, Montana"

That was it. That's her flight. Sollux could feel the sweat running down his skin. All he could do now was wait for her to come off of the plane and come through the arrivals gate. He nervously looked at his brother Mituna, who was only with him because their father had to work and Sollux needed someone to come with him, who just smiled and gave a thumbs up. Even though he suffered from severe brain damage, Mituna knew how important this was for his younger brother and wanted to try and support him. Sollux just smiled and directed his gaze back at the arrivals gate. People from the flight were coming through in large numbers, but he couldn't see her. Did he have his dates wrong? Was the flight supposed to come at a different time? But before any other possibilities racked up in his head, he felt Mituna bump his shoulder and noticed he was pointing at someone.

Coming through the gate was a young girl in her late teens. Her messy brown hair made her stand out among the crowd, along with her tan skin. Beside her was an old looking suitcase on wheels. Sollux felt his heart skip a beat. That was her.

That was Aradia.

Aradia looked around the area, her eyes finally setting on Sollux and Mituna. She grinned and waved at them with excitement. Mituna enthusiastically waved back at her, while Sollux felt himself walking towards her. Aradia began walking in his direction as well, dragging the suitcase behind her. Before long the two of them were almost running towards each other, finally greeting each other with a hug . Although Aradia nearly tackled Sollux in the process. She looked at his face, and didn't even hesitate before kissing him. Seeing Sollux's face turn red from the unexpected kiss made her giggle. "Hi Sollux!" she said with her American accent that Sollux just couldn't help but find endearing.

Sollux just smiled. "Hello Aradia."


	4. Blind Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when Nepeta set Equius up on a blind date?

Why oh why was this happening?

Why did he let his moirail go through with this? Why didn't he tell her that she had no reason to set him up on this date? And why on Alternia was he actually going through with this?!

Equius had no idea, all he could do was ask himself that while he stood in this restaurant searching for his date. He really shouldn't be here, he wasn't looking for a matespirit and there were a number of things that could go wrong. He didn't even know this troll! Nepeta had just assured him that his date would be the "purrfect match for someone like him". He didn't even know anything about them. All he knew was that he was looking for someone called Kanaya Maryam, and that she would stand out among the crowd. He had no idea what that was even supposed to mean, but Nepeta was mysterious. She could mean anything by that. So all he could do was look around through the sea of black hair and gray skin, hoping he could find the person he was looking for.

He began to think this was hopeless, maybe Kanaya had changed their mind and didn't show up. Who would want a matespirit like him anyways? But then he spotted something, a dash of blue that contrasted with the black and gray clothing most trolls wore.

Sitting alone at a table was a female troll wearing a blue dress. She appeared to be sporting jade lipstick (did that mean she was one of the rare jade bloods?), which Equius could only find astounding. The way she was sitting was the epitome of grace and class. He couldn't stand there staring like an idiot, Equius needed to go talk to her. Nervously, he walked forward, hoping he didn't look awkward in the process. He could feel himself sweating, and silently cursed himself for not bringing a towel. He made it over to the table, causing the girl to look up at him.

"Excuse me, but would you perhaps be Kanaya Maryam?" he asked, trying to keep his composure.

The girl smirked and answered, "Indeed I am. I assume you must be Equius Zahhak then?" Equius nodded, unable to find words. Even the way she spoke was filled with etiquite. "You have kept me waiting for some time, Equius. Why don't you have a seat?" He sat down, hoping that he wasn't shaking.

For a time, there was only silence. The waiter came and asked what they wanted to drink, but after that there wasn't much talking. Until Kanaya tried to start up a conversation. "Nepeta tells me that the two of you are moirails?" she asked. Again, Equius could only nod his head. "I do not usually go on blind dates like this. But she just insisted that I give this a chance, and that you would be a good matespirit. She usually knows what she is talking about, so I decided to come. I hope you don't mind my dress. Nepeta told me you were a blue blood, so I thought I would wear something to match. I know that most trolls don't care for fashion, but I suppose that makes me an odd one."

"I find your dress to be charming, actually." Equius said. "It looks wonderful for someone such as yourself." Kanaya tried to hide the blush on her cheeks. "You are a jade blood yourself, correct? I am merely asking because of your lipstick."

"Oh, yes. I am." Kanaya answered. "I don't usually go out during the night you see. I'm actually someone who prefers the day. It's quite strange, but I find it enjoyable."

At that moment, the waiter returned with their drinks, and Equius once again cursed himself for he realized he would shatter the glass if he tried to drink it. Then again, if he tried holding it as gently as possible, maybe he could pull it off. He tried picking up the glass of milk with only a few fingers, and slowly brought it up to his mouth. But before he had the chance to take a sip, the entire glass shattered and milk flew everywhere. It even managed to stain Kanaya's dress.

Great, now he definitely ruined things.

"Do forgive me Kanaya, I am dreadfully sorry!" Equius said. "You see, I am ridiculously strong, stronger than most trolls, and the glass just happened to-"

Kanaya giggled. "There's no need to worry, Equius. I came prepared for this." She pulled out a towel and quickly began to clean herself off of the white liquid. "Nepeta told me something like this could happen, so I brought a towel along with me just in case."

"Oh. I see." Equius stated. "When you are done with that, might I use it myself? I have been perspiring for some time now and would like to clean it off."

"Of course." Kanaya handed the towel to him. Her dress still had some white stains on it, but she assured him that she could just wash the dress later. Equius smiled as he used the towel to wipe off the sweat. "I do believe we should go somewhere else though, I have a feeling the manager would not be happy to discover one of his glasses was destroyed."

"I agree." Equius said. "Let us leave at once."

Kanaya linked her arm with his, standing beside him. "After you, Equius."

So things didn't turn out as planned, but Equius didn't mind. At least Kanaya still desired his company. It would be worth it later when the night would later end with a kiss on the cheek.


	5. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> La douleur exquise (French)- The exquisite pain that comes from loving someone who will never love you back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so mad because my writing program crashed and made me have to rewrite this whole fucking thing. UGH

Nepeta had no idea what heartbreak felt like. She had never experienced it before. She never thought she would ever know what it felt like. Her heart was so young and so free that the concept of heartbreak was unfamiliar to her.

That was before she became flushed for Karkat Vantas.

At first, she thought they had a chance. That the two of them were meant to be by the powers that be. That they would ship together and be a pair made in matchmaking. That they were flushed soulmates destined to be matespirits for all of time. It was going to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. She tried to impress him, make him like her, cement herself in his mind as the perfect matespirit for him.

But things didn't turn out the way she planned.

He was already flushed for someone else. Terezi Pyrope. Nepeta didn't hate her for it, she had no control over Karkat's feelings. She was a bit jealous about it though. What did she have that Nepeta didn't? What made her so special in his eyes? What did she have to do to get him to see her that way? She had no idea, she couldn't come up with anything.

She wanted to cry, but she didn't. She was a proud and strong hunter! They never showed their tears! She had faced worse creatures than heartbreak! She could move on and find someone else.

Right?

But she didn't expect heartbreak to come with pain.

Every time she saw the two of them, her chest tightened. Her heartbeat quickened. Her stomach felt queasy. She felt sick. She had no idea why, yes she was sad that they couldn't be together, but she wanted to move on. She didn't understand why she felt such pain and illness.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Heartbreak she could take. But the pain that she felt from this? No. She could never handle it. The pain was too terrible. It was enough that she never wanted to love again.

She tried to ignore it. Tried to hide herself away so she wouldn't have to deal with it. Limited her contact with both Karkat and Terezi. But the thoughts of the two of them kept popping into her head and made the pain come back. No matter what she did the pain came back. No matter how much she tried to tell herself to forget it, no matter how many feelings jams she had with Equius, no matter what she did to try and distract herself, it always came back.

And eventually, she began to get used to the pain. Accepted it, enjoyed it. And she didn't understand way. And that was enough to want to make her break down and cry.


	6. Evidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dangan Ronpa AU, where Terezi sort of takes the place of Kirigiri as the hard-boiled detective with a strong moral compass who's unflinching in the face of danger. Instead of her hands being burned, though, her eyes are burned instead, and she hides her scars with sunglasses. Karkat is the standout kid who's supposedly talentless, but somehow got randomly selected in a raffle to attend Hope's Peak Academy. In the face of despair, the two work to unravel the mysteries of Hope's Peak and learn to trust each other and form a strong friendship in the process.
> 
> (bonus points if Redglare takes the place of Kirigiri's dad as the principal)

When they started, there were fifteen of them. But now there were only six. Feferi Peixes, John Egbert, Kanaya Maryam, Gamzee Makara, and the two of them. Terezi Pyrope, the hard-boiled detective who didn't take shit from anyone, and Karkat Vantas, the boy who was simply accepted to the school by sheer luck. Throughout all the chaos, the two of them managed to work together and compliment each other. And it was here and now, during the final investigation, that the truth would be revealed.

They had found their way into the headmaster's room, supposedly it belonged to Terezi's mother who had abandoned her, looking for evidence that would get them out of here for good. Terezi had managed to convince Monokuma, their so called headmaster, to have them redo the last trial and figure out the true killer of the sixteenth student, Aradia Megido. It was their last chance at leaving, they couldn't screw things up now. Which was why Terezi seemed to be getting so frustrated that she couldn't get in to her mother's computer.

"Dammit, I've tried every password I can think of and nothing's working!" she said. There was a secret room that could only be unlocked by a password, but she had tried everything she could connect to her mother and nothing was working. Karkat walked over, trying to figure out what the detective couldn't.

"What about your name?" he asked. "Did you think of that, or are you too convinced that she didn't give a fuck about you?" Not even an hour ago, Terezi had told him everything. The reason she came to this school, her talent, and the truth about her mother. She wanted to cut off all ties with her and end their relationship as mother and daughter. Which was why she was convinced that the one behind all of this couldn't have been the headmaster of the school.

Terezi looked on in shock, or at least Karkat had to assume she was. The glasses on her face made it hard to know for sure. "Really Karkat? Like she would use my name as her password. She abandoned me, remember? She wouldn't care about me that much."

"Will you just give it a try, it's not like you have any other fucking options." Karkat said.

"You know what? I'll let you try it." Terezi said, stepping to the side of the computer. "But only to humor you. It won't work, I just know it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." Karkat said. "I get it, your mom never loved you just let me do this already." Standing in front of the computer, he slowly entered the name, pressing every key carefully. T-E-R-E-Z-I. As he entered the final letter, the two could hear a creaking noise. The door was opening. "Well look at that, it opened!" he said. "Now let's see if there's anything useful in here." He made his way towards the room, noticing the strange look on Terezi's face in the process. "What's wrong now, Terezi?" he asked.

Terezi didn't speak. She just looked at the computer in what appeared to be disgust, it was never easy to tell with this girl. "But....why?" she said, before walking into the hidden room.

"I swear to god, you are the weirdest person in the fucking world." Karkat said as he followed her inside. The room didn't have that much, there was a table in the middle of the room with a colorfully decorated present on top of it, a desk, and a cabinet with a lone picture frame sitting on top of it. Terezi refused to talk. She could only stare at the colorful box on the table. Looking at it made Karkat feel uneasy. It was completely out of place in a room like this. It was just too suspicious. He couldn't help but open it.

"Be careful Karkat." Terezi said.

"Why? You think there's going to be another fucking bomb in here or something dangerous like that?" Karkat asked.

"No, but what may be in there could shock you. But then again, it's only a suspicion. And you're kind of a wimp anyway so it might shock you no matter what. Just don't start screaming when you see it." Terezi said with a small laugh.

Karkat decided to ignore her last comment. He opened up the box, trying to prepare himself for whatever could be hiding in there. But he could never have been prepared for what he was about to see. Even though Terezi warned him not to, he couldn't help but scream. Inside the box was a set of bones, real bones. "What the everloving fuck?!" he shouted out.

"Told you it wasn't gonna be pleasant." Terezi said. "Just as I suspected."

"The fuck are you talking about?" Karkat said. "You mean you knew there was going to be bones in that stupid box?!"

"Well, not bones necessarily." Terezi said. "Just parts of a dead body is all."

"But it's the same damn thing!" Karkat said. "There's a goddamn body in this thing!"

"It's probably my mother." Terezi said, unflinching.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Karkat said. "There's no way that could be..."

"Those bones... That... body... That's... my mother... My mother's... remains..." Terezi said. If he didn't know any better, Karkat would have assumed she was sad to see her mother dead.

"Wait, how the fuck do you even know that?!" Karkat said. "How can you tell that this is your mom and not some other random body that stupid bear had on him?!"

"It's obvious when you put everything together." Terezi explained. "Sollux's Alter Ego program told us that the headmaster was a woman in her late thirties and was likely inside the school. Meanwhile, Monokuma told us that the only people who were participating in this game were the sixteen students and no one else. If you put two and two together, it's clear as day that the headmaster was in the building but was already dead. And that's how I know."

Karkat knew it for sure this time, Terezi was hiding her feelings under a calm mask. She didn't even look in the box itself. She probably wished that it was all a lie. She had done things no one in the Pyrope family would ever do, all so she could find her mother and come to terms with the past. And now she couldn't do that.

He decided to move away from the box, there had to be more clues in here that could help them in the upcoming class trial. He moved over to the desk, uncertain to do so with Terezi standing right there.

"Don't worry about me, investigate however you like." Terezi said, as if she was aware of what he was thinking. "I'm not about to hold back the investigation, and you don't need to think about me."

With her approval, he looked through the desk drawers in hopes of finding something helpful. At first it felt like it was nothing but documents that were unrelated, but in the bottom drawer was an e-Handbook with the words "emergency use only" written on them. "This must be..."

"An e-handbook for the headmaster's use." Terezi said, finishing his thought. "One without any limits that can open anything. Or at least that's what I think."

"That's probably the only thing it could be." Karkat said. "This could help us in the investigation."

"Well in that case, you should keep it." Terezi said.

"You are, I mean this did belong to..." Karkat said.

"I don't need it." Terezi interrupted. "If you don't want it, you can just leave it in the drawer and go."

"Fine, I guess I'm keeping it then." Karkat said as he stuffed the e-Handbook in his pocket. He had no idea if she was really okay with it, but he didn't question her about it. He moved on to the cabinet, the last thing in the room. The possibility of Terezi's discomfort popped back into his head again, but once again she told him to just look as he pleased and not to worry about her. He opened the cabinet drawers, finding nothing but work-related documents. "Jesus, was this woman a workaholic or something?" Karkat asked.

"She had nothing else." Terezi said. "She hated her family and ran away from home. If she didn't have her job, she would've been nothing but a complete failure. She didn't want that, so she put everything into her work. That's all there is to it." Karkat knew she hadn't been on friendly terms with her mom, but that still seemed pretty harsh. There was only one other thing in the room, the picture frame. He doubted it was going to be that important, but it is best if he checked everything.

The picture looked old and faded, but he was able to make out what was on it. A smiling little girl was being held up by a woman. The woman's back was facing the picture, making it impossible to see her face. The little girl on the other hand was recognizable, even without her glasses. "Hey Terezi!" Karkat called. She walked over to the cabinet and looked at the picture in shock. Her expression quickly turned to one of disgust as she continued to stare at the picture.

"That woman... How annoying..." she said. "I came here to come to terms with my past and yet... And yet... I'm being shown this _thing_... What the hell am I supposed to make of it?" Karkat was confused. She told him that her mom didn't care about her family and yet here she had this picture. Could Terezi have been wrong this whole time? "Why would she...? I was just about to cut her out of my life... Stop being the girl who was thrown away... That's why I went to all this trouble just to meet her...! But all I got out of it was her being gone once again... Even being able to forget her has been taken from me... She truly is the worst mother..."

Karkat could see it, the anger in her features. All she wanted was to let go of things, and here it was taunting her that she would never be able to. Terezi quickly tried to regain her composure as she looked at Karkat right in the face. "Karkat, I have a favor to ask of you." she said.

"Right now? Really?" Karkat said. "Fine, what do you want?"

"I know it sounds unreasonable of me, and it may be an inconvenience for you, but I need you to leave this room." she said.

"Huh? What the fuck for?" Karkat asked.

"I just need to be alone for a while, okay?" Terezi said.

"Are you okay or..?" Karkat asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Terezi said. "I just need the time to calm down and think rationally again. I need time to sort my emotions out."

Karkat sighed. "Look, Terezi." he said. "All that stuff you said about your mother and your relationship with her... The thing is..."

"She's been holding onto this photo all these years while she buried herself in work because she was waiting for me to come and find her... Is that what you think?" Terezi said. Karkat didn't respond, she knew what he was going to suggest before he even said it. This girl was truly something else. "It's a good inference, I agree. But this isn't something that can be fixed by good inferences. My past won't change just because of this photo existing. It's not that simple."

"You're right. Sorry I opened my big fat mouth." Karkat said.

"Once I've calmed down, I'll be back to the investigation in a jiffy." Terezi said. "So please, just let me be alone for a while."

"Sure, whatever. I got it." Karkat said as he made his way towards the exit. "Guess I'll see you later then." Terezi didn't reply. Karkat stood in the headmaster's room for a while, putting all his thoughts together. He didn't think she was going to be okay, no matter what she tried to tell him. It had to have shocked her, maybe not as much as it shocked him but still. After all the headmaster, her mother, was dead. Regardless of their relationship it had to have made her sad just a little bit. There was no doubt in Karkat's mind who it was that killed her mom. The mastermind. It had to be him. Alter Ego's words about the headmaster repeated in his head. The idea that she was the mastermind had been all wrong. It could only be one of the students who entered the school, plus the mysterious sixteenth student Aradia Megido. But there were only six of them left. Everyone else was dead, either murdered or executed. But it couldn't have been one of them, could it? Karkat didn't want to believe it. He looked back at the doorway to the secret room. If there was anyone he could never believe would be the mastermind, it was Terezi. But he had to find more evidence to be sure of it.


	7. Flying High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flight of Romance: when a character with means to fly takes another on a flying trip in an attempt to woo them.

Feferi had never truly been flying before. Being a sea dweller had already limited her from doing so, but she had hoped she could do so in the game. Sure she had floated around on Derse, but it just wasn't the same as actually flying. Plus it was her dreamself, she could have given herself multiple arms if she wished for it. When she found out that going God Tier could give her wings, she wanted to do so more than anything. But it did not appear to be her fate, not in the alpha timeline. Perhaps sea dwellers simply weren't meant to fly.

Even when she died, she was unable to soar. She met other versions of herself from doomed timelines, ones who reached God Tier. Feferi never said anything, but deep down she was jealous of them. They got to know what it meant to fly and she couldn't. It wasn't fair to her. Why did she have to be denied the joy of flying while other versions of her could have it? Why was it only her?

She never thought someone else would grant her wish.

She had no idea how long it had been since she died, time flowed differently in the dream bubbles, when one day she heard the sound of fluttering wings. She tried to ignore them, it was probably another dead version of herself or one of her friends who happened to find her. But when they spoke, it wasn't the voice she had been expecting.

"Hi Feferi!" Aradia said. It wasn't one of the many robot Aradias, this one was flesh and blood. And she had beautiful maroon wings and a God Tier outfit. But what really separated her was the lack of milky white eyes, this Aradia was alive. But how could that be? Aradia exploded, Feferi had seen it for herself.

"Aradia?" Feferi said, still unable to believe what she was seeing. "You're alive?"

"Very much so!" Aradia said, happy as could be. It was such a difference to the Aradia from before. "And I plan on staying this way."

"But how did you become Cod Tier?" Feferi asked.

"That isn't important right now." Aradia said with a smile. "What is important is why you look so sad. The Feferi I know has never been sad."

"It's nothing reelly." Feferi said. "I'm just a little jealous is all."

"Jealous? What would you have to be jealous of?" Aradia asked.

"I want to fly like you can, but I don't have wings. I never will." Feferi said. "I keep seeing the versions of me from doomed timelines who do have them and I can't kelp but envy them."

"You want to fly, huh?" Aradia said. "Well in that case, I'll have to sweep you off your feet!"

"Sweep me off my feet?" Feferi said. "What do you mean by-AHHHHH!" She never got to finish her sentence because the next thing she knew, she was holding on to Aradia's hands as the time player swooped her up into the air.

The view was amazing. Flying over a memory of the Land of Dew and Glass, she could see all the colors of her planet passing by. The reflections of rainbows in the glass, the many shades of blue in the sky, the green grass on the ground and the plants that sprouted out of it, it was all beautiful. Soon the landscape changed, the skies turning into shades of purple and pillars of quartz replaced the glass sculptures. It was obvious that this was Aradia's planet, the Land of Quartz and Melody. Feferi had only passed it briefly during the game, but seeing it in front of her eyes made her wish she had spent more time in it.

"You doing ok there?" Aradia asked.

Feferi looked up at her and smiled. "I'm doing betta than ok, I'm doing fantastic!!!" she shouted.

"Do you want to stop any time soon?" Aradia asked.

Feferi shook her head. "No way! This is amazing!" she said.

"Well I hope this works for a first date then." Aradia said.

"It's perfect!" Feferi said. Aradia just smiled back as she continued to fly through the memories. She had a feeling she would be staying in this bubble for a while.


	8. History Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If you come across anything you don't understand, I'll gladly explain it for you in **excruciating** detail!" - Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Dangan Ronpa

"Clammit Aranea, are you almost done yet?" Meenah asked as she sat on the library floor in boredom. "There ain't no way someone like you can spend all day in a fuckin' library."

The cerulean blood turned her head over to her moirail, looking up from the book she had buried herself into. "I'm sorry, Meenah, I just need a little more time." she said with a smile. "If you're getting bored with waiting, then why don't you grab a book? I know you're not the reading type, but even you can find something of interest in here! Just go on and find something you like, I'll come get you when you're ready."

Meenah stood up, unhappy with the answer she received. "Fine, whatever." she sighed. "You're too quiet right now anywave and it's creepin' me out." Putting her hands in her pockets, she walked away to search the library.

"Have fun!" Aranea called out as she returned to her book.

Have fun? How was she supposed to have fun in a boring place like this? She couldn't make any cash by reading a book. The only fun she thought she could have with a book was if she could beat Ampora's smug, annoying face with one. Too bad the creep wasn't there. It was only the two of them and the shelves of books. With no idea where she was, she stopped in front of a shelf and just grabbed a random book. She had no idea what to expect, she was put off from reading books due to her time being conditioned into an empress. She saw no way that she could have fun reading.

She opened the book and flipped to a random page, it wasn't like she cared about what she was reading. Leaning against the bookshelf, she glanced over all the words and tried to understand what was written. Unfortunately for her, she had picked up a rather text-heavy book that used large words she didn't understand. What was this thing even talking about? Some war that happened sweeps ago? She didn't understand a lick of it.

"Oh! There you are, Meenah! I've been looking for you." Aranea said, walking over to the fuchsia blood with some books in her hands. "I'm all set! All I need to do is check these out and we can leave." She glanced at the book Meenah was holding, a look of shock on her face. "Oh my, Meenah! I had no idea you were a history buff!" A sparkle entered the Serket's eye.

"Uh, I just pulled this off the shellf without thinkin'." Meenah said. "Why, you know about this shit or somefin? Cause it ain't makoing any sense to me."

"Of course I do!" Aranea said, dropping the books she was carrying. "This chronicles every event of a long and arduous war that happened long before we were hatched. It began when the trolls of East Beforus became tired of the injustices they faced and decided to stand up. They wished to take down the system set in place by the empress at that time and start a completely new one from the ground up. The ideas they had were-"

Son of a bitch, she got her rambling. Meenah loved her moirail, but sometimes she wished Aranea would just shut her yap and be quiet. She didn't need to know every single detail about what this book was talking about, but it was too late to tell her that now. The only thing she could do is hope to drown her out.

"-which led to the empress sending out all the warriors she had to the shores of East Beforus in the middle of the day, cloaked in a way that would prevent the sun from burning their skin, and devised a sneak attack to lower their numbers and cause a serious shift in power. The empress soon had the upper advantage and was able to cause them all to surrender. A treaty was devised and negotiations were made to ensure a fair- Meenah, are you listening?" Aranea asked.

"Nah, not reelly." Meenah admitted. "All I wanted ta know was what some of these words meant."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Aranea asked.

"Ya didn't give me a chance to." Meenah said. She returned the book to it's shelf and made her way towards the exit. "Come on, let's get the fuck outta here already."

"Honestly, Meenah. These kinds of things are important to know!" Aranea huffed, picking up the books she dropped.

"To you they might, but I couldn't give a fuck." Meenah said.

"Seriously, there's nothing wrong with a little history lesson." Aranea said.

"With you, Serket, a history lesson becomes a lecture." Meenah said.


	9. Reaching Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I live my life in bitterness  
> And fill my heart with emptiness  
> And now I see, I see it for the first time,  
> There is no crime in being kind  
> Not everyone is out to screw you over.  
> Maybe, oh just maybe, they just wanna get to know you." - Marina Diamandis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for implied abuse

She never opened up to anyone. Partially because she never had anyone to open up to. The only people she could talk to were all assholes. So you couldn't really blame her for keeping things to herself. She craved for freedom, released from her curse of eternal life. She wished she could live like a normal troll, a normal girl. But it was not to be. She was doomed to go through time and stir up chaos amongst trolls, and finally die at the hands of the empress. The only solace she found was being able to watch other trolls go about their lives.

Sometimes, when she was out of that mansion and walking around Alternia, she would sneak off for a moment and get a taste of what it was like. She'd buy a piece of fruit from a stand in a marketplace, or watch young trolls who were free. Or at least more free than she was. She would envy them, none of them would ever have to live her life. Even the slaves who had it the worst were better off than she was. She didn't even have a name. All she had was a title, the Handmaid. The servant of death itself.

One day, during a time she could sneak away for a moment before returning to her master, she came across a sermon of the Signless. She knew all about him, she was told his story multiple times as a child against her will. She knew his fate, how his story would tragically end. And she knew the fates of his company, the Disciple would spend her days hiding away in a cave, the Dolorosa would be traded into slavery and die, and then there was the Psiioniic.

She pitied him the most, for he was probably the only troll who would have a fate worse than her own. Given a similar curse of eternal life, he would be strapped to the empress's ship as a battery, unable to move. He didn't deserve it, but she couldn't change it. All she could do was watch from the sidelines.

She stayed to listen to the sermon, hoping to leave as soon as it ended. Remaining unseen and returning back to her awful master. But it seemed that even she could be surprised by what fate had in store for her.

"Excuse me, this is your pouch is it not?" She turned to see the Psiioniic standing there, holding a small money pouch she had managed to drop. She merely nodded her head and held out her hand, waiting for it to be returned to her. The yellow blood gave it to her, and she proceded to put it away under the cloak she wore.

"Thank you." she said, making the turn to walk away.

"You're not from around here are you?" The Psiioniic asked her. "I've never seen you here before, and I'm familiar with this town."

"I'm on business for my master." she said, not exactly lying. "And I must be going."

"Oh, you're a slave." The Psiioniic said, a hint of concern in his voice. Of course that would strike a cord with him. He was a former slave after all. "I'm assuming you wish to break free then? I wouldn't imagine a slave coming to His sermons unless they wished to defy their master."

He wasn't wrong, she did want to defy Lord English, but she couldn't tell him too much. "Yes, I do." she said. "But I can't."

"Why?" The Psiioniic asked.

"...Circumstances." she said. "Too complicated to explain."

"Maybe it just seems that way now, but I'm sure you can do it some day." The Psiioniic said. "I can help you if you'd like."

"No. Help wouldn't matter." she said. Why was he still talking to her? She needed to return soon, she was pushing her luck as is.

"Then maybe I can help in other ways." The Psiioniic said. He took hold of her hand, startling her and making her jump back. She wasn't used to phyiscal touch, any physical contact was usually her getting beaten. She eased up upon realizing he wasn't hurting her. "You've been beaten a lot, haven't you?" he asked, noticing her shock. She nodded her head. "I can help with that. What's your name?"

She didn't know how to answer. How can someone with no name give it to another? "Don't have one." she said.

"Impossible. Surely you must have a title at least." The Psiioniic said.

"No." she lied. "Not even that."

"I don't believe it. Everyone has a name of sorts." The Psiioniic said. "Besides, I need to call you something."

She stood there and thought. There was one name she had been given, long ago when she was still a child, but it had been taken away from her like many other privileges. It would have to do. "...Damara." she said.

"Damara..." The Psiioniic repeated. "Very well then, that's what I'm calling you."

"Are we done? My master is waiting for me." she said. "He is not patient."

"Then I'll have to see you at His next sermon." The Psiioniic said. "You'll be there, won't you?"

She didn't know. She traveled through multiple time periods, there was no way she could tell when she'd be in a position to come to a sermon. But she wanted to see him again. No one had ever showed her kindness before, and she always wanted to speak with the Psiioniic. "Maybe not the next sermon, but at another one." she said. "Promise."

"Very well, it's a promise. So long, Damara." The Psiioniic said, walking away to his group.

She was glad she was wearing a hood, she thought she could feel her face heat up. She would definitely see him again. And so she did. She went to many sermons and stayed to talk with him. It was nice, having someone who cared. Sure, she knew it would be painful later on, they were both destined to never be together, but it was nice to have this while it lasted. It made her feel normal.

Even someone like her could have a matespirit.


End file.
